Foley's royal command

SOUTH Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley has a hard-won reputation of being a bit of a drama queen (drama king doesn't sound quite right).

SOUTH Australian Treasurer Kevin Foley has a hard-won reputation of being a bit of a drama queen (drama king doesn't sound quite right).

He certainly wasn't in the mood to tolerate inattention in parliament yesterday as he delivered an important economic statement. Instead of admonishing opposition MPs for interjecting, he turned schoolmarmish (again, schoolmasterly doesn't capture the man) towards government MPs who were chatting among themselves. A withering stare silenced them, but a minute later Foley stopped to stare down the front bench where Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith was deep in conversation with Police Minister Michael Wright. "Jane!" Foley exclaimed with feigned horror. There were embarrassed looks and sheepish smiles, but all sat still and paid careful attention for the rest of his speech.

Champagne acting

ACTOR Ray Barrett, who died on Tuesday, was well known for his part in Bruce Beresford's 1976 film Don's Party. In his memoirs, Barrett wrote: "It's a tribute to the film's energy and life that even the Americans understood it." On the set Barrett got drunk and took a swing at co-star Graham Kennedy, who then refused to share a scene with him. Great days in Australian film.

Sticks and stones

ON this page yesterday, reporters Caroline Overington and Angus Hohenboken wrote a fine feature about the removal of 30 indigenous children from their Lightning Ridge parents. Media adviser Phyllis Sakinofsky emailed to say her boss, Community Services Minister Linda Burney, was "very aware" of the story but made no further mention of what some are calling the new stolen generation. Instead, Sakinofsky was more worried about Burney being described as part-Aboriginal because it "is offensive to Aboriginal people" and "used to serve discriminatory purposes". To further chastise us, Sakinofsky added "the term Aboriginal people is more appropriate than Aborigines". We would never set out to offend the admirable Burney, and if we described her as part-European we would understand if she took offence. But part-Aboriginal?

We're in the money

IS this another sign of economic recovery? The Australian Mint is making money, apparently, and it's not just your standard coinage. Yesterday Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry trumpeted the tremendous news that the Mint on Canberra's southside has won its first new international contract in five years. "The upgrade has secured the Mint's economic viability and ensures it will prosper as a world-leading minting facility," Sherry said. How can an institution that churns out money become economically unviable in the first place?

Art winner is rubbish

BRITISH artist Damien Hirst - the man who puts dead animals in formaldehyde-filled glass cases - should take a tip from Berlin artist Dane Mitchell. New Zealand artists are furious that Mitchell has won the Waikato National Contemporary Art Award worth $NZ15,000 ($12,140) for a work he hasn't seen and hasn't touched. Mitchell wrote a message to Waikato gallery staff asking them to collect discarded wrappings of other entries and dump it on the floor - that was his entry. Entrant Mark Hayes was less than impressed. "Contemporary art needs to say something to you and make you think. I am sorry but I just cannot see the 'clever' and 'cheeky' in the winning sculpture," he said. Collette Fergus said the work is a "sad mockery of us all and an embarrassment to the arts community".

Turnbull plays for time

AS he continues to languish in the opinion polls, Malcolm Turnbull is giving the impression he wants to push the date of the next election as far away as possible; close your eyes and the monster will go away. Yesterday, Turnbull repeated the furphy that March 11, 2011 (a Friday and therefore a non-starter), is the latest date for the next election. In fact, the last possible date for a joint House/Senate election is April 16, 2011 which would give Turnbull another month to recover in the polls. The latest possible date for a House of Representatives election is also April 16, 2011, and all those signs will have started to rust.